I was intrigued when I got my hands on this film; I have been a watcher of the Angling Exploration Group for a while now and was keen to see just what kind of film they had churned out. It was clear from the beginning this was not going to be your usual fly fishing DVD. For starters this film was shot as a diary, and in diaries (a bit like my diary really) things go wrong and even though it is a diary about fly fishing there is also a nice little mix of other stuff to keep you interested. For other stuff think gorgeous women in bikinis on beaches. In fact it just so happened that my beloved wife walked into the room talking to me so I paused the film

– What, er, are you watching?
– Itâ€™s a fly fishing DVD, its pretty good so far!
– I bet it is (with a raised eyebrow)

Yes, frozen on the screen was a woman with a tiny bikini.

Needless to say it is not all soft porn there are some actual fishing moments, and boy, what fishing moments- there are some films that make you say to yourself â€œI have GOT to fish thereâ€ and this without a doubt is one of them (also muttering under your breath what lucky bXXXXX they are). It must be stressed that this video is not out to teach anything other than possibly to ensure you never have a significant other or at least one that is very understanding as it can be classed as possibly every fly anglers dream trip. It also happens to be the best fish porn I have seen on disc
The enthusiasm of the guys is impressive although to be fair, can you get bored of waking up to a beautiful trout stream and within an hour catching a rather large trout ?, somehow I donâ€™t think so.

There are some little bonus bits at the end of the film. I would say my only criticism is that there are a couple that deserve to be in the main film, there was one shot showing a dry fly drifting down a streamâ€¦.well, I should really let you get the DVD.
You can buy from Amazon or direct from the boys

A PRIVATE school in Glasgow is in talks with the council to buy one of the city’s public parks.

Dawsholm Park, between Kelvindale and Bearsden, is up for sale and Glasgow City Council is in “discussions” with St Aloysius College.

The Jesuit independent school, for boys and girls aged 3-18, is based in Hill Street, Garnethill. The park buy-up move has provoked “outrage”.

The park has sparrow hawks and squirrels and is popular with bird watchers and walkers.

There were proposals six years ago to see the site become a business park, but they never got off the ground because of strong opposition.

Tom Ralph, former bursar and now a consultant for the college, confirmed the school was considering Dawsholm Park, along with a “number of options”, to expand its sports facilities.

However, Steve Inch, the council’s director of development and regeneration, said: “We have had early discussions with St Aloysius.

“Other options include economic development of the site and retaining it for recreational use.

“The problem with the site is it used to be a coal mine, as well as tar and chemical works, so it is expensive to prepare for development.”

However, mother of two Caroline Johnston, who stays in Balcarres Avenue, Kelvindale, and runs Neil’s Wheels, an organisation committed to getting disabled people into sport, slammed the bid to sell the park.

She said: “The park has been left to go downhill for the last six or seven years and the

cynical side of me has to think the council is doing it deliberately so it can sell off the land.

“It would seem the council is trying to get this through the back door. Everyone I talk to is outraged about it.”

Another critic was Stephen Prince, secretary of Broomhill Sports Club, a community organisation run by West End parents which has 463 members.

He said the club asked the council a year ago if it could use Dawsholm Park as a permanent base for a community sports club with upgraded pitches and changing facilities but the council refused.

Mr Prince said: “Our request was to use the park and develop it because the blaes pitches were disused and changing facilities had been demolished.

“However, we got a reply this summer that the council would not consider this option. It said it had other plans for the park.”

27/11/06

Other plans for the park ? As usual Glasgow City Council are thinking of raping what is left of the green in our city and selling it off to the highest bidder. I wouldnt be suprised if they proposed sticking the Kelvin through a concrete tube.

So I am not in the Sage club.
Emmanuelle has got a Sage rod; Alex recently bought one of those Sage Launch rods and finally Mike has went and bought himself a Sage XP- a 9 foot 5 weight. I am still plugging away with my old school entry level Greys rod (that everyone loves when they fish with it) Oh sure I still have my 7 foot 4 weight bamboo rod that outclasses their Sage rods but on the bigger rivers that I fish I often have to use my 5 weight and the extra length is handy.
I recently bought a Fulling Mill rod in a rather hasty move and have only fished with it a few times (for that take once- and even then it was only for an hour). My thoughts went along the lines of: I want a good rod, so should I either buy the budget range of a top end manufacturer or the top of the line of another less popular manufacturer. I went for the top of the line of the less popular and it has left me unfulfilled.
Alberto â€“ casting instructor extraordinaire says that you should never buy a rod for 500 quid as you will only want a new one in a couple of years anyway, which is a good reason to buy cheap rods and often. However I am one of those people that when I get something I like I stick with it no matter what- I get stuck in a groove and refuse to get out. I am ever faithful to the end. I was that dog that sat at the grave.
On the other hand I know I need to get my hands on a 5 weight 9 foot 4 piece rod for , err, travelling and convenience purposes â€“ it is the truth though as I intend to go a little further afar over the next couple of years. So if I bought an expensive rod I can pretty much guarantee I will still be using it in 20 years time.
You would think that some carbon rod manufacturer would maybe cotton on to the fact that I am up for it to receive any goods but alas I only get emails from pharmaceutical companies questioning the stiffness of my erections or Nigerians wanting me to assist them in the movement of large sums of money- it hardly seems worth it.
Now that Sage have brought out another super duper ultra sexy rod their last super duper ultra sexy rod is getting sold cheap (which is why Mike bought one, however he will continue to be an old hippy at heart by sticking a 20 buck reel on it) and this is why I may well succumb to the lure of sexy expensive rods.

New fly tying night- running initially for 10 weeks every Thursday from the 11th January – location will be Milngavie, Thursdays at 7pm – 10pm. Cost will be Â£3 per visit
It is our hoped there will be a monthly speaker and a beginners class. They are happy to accommodate anyone who wishes to learn over the age of 12.
Drop me a line for more info.

So it was this year I got exited about whole idea of using walky talkies while fishing. It was Mike that put me on to the idea and I was resistant at first. When he told me he had bought a couple for him and his brother I rubbished the whole idea straight away (I do that quite a lot, I change my mind about things quickly but NEVER about line trays). I think it was when we fished the Don that they started to appeal to me. Nothing chears you up more when you are having a terrible days fishing than knowing everyone you are with is having an awful day as well. What improved matters was the fact we could have a laugh about it. There were three of us- Mike, Alex and I. We regularly split up throughout the day as the fishing was absolutely awful and gave each other updates by radio.

– Seen any rises?
– No, have you?
– No, nothing at all, has Alex?
– He has not seen anything either.
– Roger that

Yup- exiting stuff that!

The conversation went on like that for the full day. To amuse ourselves we would occasionally burp in it just to be manly. It was also good as sometimes we would walk by the other person without realizing and they could catch up quickly. Essentially you still have the solitude but not the inconvenience of trying to find a fishing buddy when they are late. Alex of course, on the Don trip, put a radio in his pocket and it got wet (this turned out to be a bit of a theme with Alex)
Anyway, so I bought a pair from eBay.

Of course, other than the one mentioned there are other advantages. I have, on occasion, not been as tuned into whatâ€™s happening on the river as my fishing buddy (some might say I have not been as fluky as usual) and been put on to fish as a result of my walky talky. I have been fishing away, not doing particularly well while my fishing buddy is maybe a couple of hundred yards away- not wanting to shout it is a simple matter of asking them how they are getting on over the two way radio- usually the reply is that they are hauling them in and I have I not noticed the record breaking hatch of blue winged olives. Ah yes, as I tie on a BWO I just noticed it now.
They also act as a bit of an ego booster sometimes-

– caught a nice trout
– caught another one
– and another
– Oooh this one is bigger
– Lovely colours on this one

Of course the one problem I found was that they are not waterproof, at least not the ones I bought and which Mike recommended.

The first mishap came when I was fishing for Sea Trout at night– a perfect opportunity to use them. They worked great until I hooked a bat and in the confusion I dropped the radio in the water. But as luck would have it I dried it out and didnâ€™t touch it for a week, voila, worked perfectly. I suppose that is the danger of taking anything electrical near water- at some point it will get a dunking and are you prepared to lose it? Alex has dunked his phone a couple of times so has taken out one of those insurance thingies that gets him a new one- every time we go fishing he loses it or dunks it in the water (not to mention losing his wallet) Anyway, where was I â€“ oh yea electrical stuff. I think the next time my radio got a dunking was by Charlie-

– Here, your radio has stopped working and the front bit has all steamed up!
– Let me see it (opens it up to see water in the batteries)
– Did you dip this in the water?
– Er, no, I did fall in though
– !!!

Alex put the final nail in the coffin when he was wading over the river to show me his giant brown trout. I am a bit of a pansy when it comes to deep water and tricky wading, actually maybe not so much a pansy as being allergic to death- just doesnâ€™t agree with me, however Alex is what can only be described as a â€œwading commandoâ€ in that if his head is still above water then a good result has been had. I have seen him in tricky situations where I would basically have to come out the water and have a lie down to calm down and he has barely rated it on the scary scale. Anyway, so Alex wanted to show me his giant trout (secretly he wanted a hero shot photo and as usual muggings here is the only one that carries a camera) and waded across the river at chest height to show me. It was most impressive trout and well worth the death of the radio.
The blue line represents the water level and the red circle is the now busted walky talky.
By luck would have it I have now found some waterproof walky talkys that work exactly the same as the ones that got busted except they look like mini bananas =
I have seen the ones I recently bought only in the UK eBay for some reason; have a look at them here for prices.

So I was supposed to go Pike fishing on Sunday with Alex and Charlie, I was all prepared however a slight overindulgence of alcohol on Saturday evening meant that I was feeling under the weather and had to stay horizontal. Being vertical made me sick. As It was I missed out on what sounds like a cracking day. Damn my greedy eyes for Gin n Tonics, Red Wine and Single Malt Whiskey

Alex reports:

It was with great excitement that Charlie and I stared into the oily depths
of our own wee slice of fly fishing heaven – the Forth and Clyde Canal, as
it rears it’s ugly head behind and industrial wasteland near Kirkintilloch.
Given that the Blue-Winged Olive hatch hadn’t really materialised yet, we
opted to match what we thought the pike would be feeding on: Charlie with a
mean sandeel imitation, and me with a 4/0 ‘satan’s goldfish.’
So, with rod’s set up we commenced to thrash the water into a lather;
passers by giving us a generous berth.
About half an hour goes past and Charlie up’s the ante as his fly is
molested by something big. Alas, it was not to be……

Encouraged by this we fish on with ever-more vigorous thrashing as huge
flies whizz about the vicinity when it all clicked into place. For once
Satan’s Goldfish doesn’t end up in the tree behind me and bellf-flops into
the canal with a lound ‘thonk!’
Strip-wait-twitch-twitch-wait-strip-twitch-BANG!

Pike on!!

After an impressive but short struggle a wee jack of around 3lb is wheeched
out by Charlie. After a quick snap, the offending article is removed and the
pike is safely back in it’s miserable abode.
Fuck. Pike FF really does work!!!

By now we are casting so frantically you could practically see steam hissing
off the canal as our lines thrashed it into submission. Charlie loses a
fish. A pattern begins to develop.

So, back to the car for a bite to eat and discuss tactics. We decide to plug
on………
On go the lures: charlie opting for a wee flashy number and for myself, a
little rattling orange and yellow beastie.
On my first cast I can see my plug sailing toward a green and yellow
monster. It has ‘Eddie Stobard’ written on it’s side and is doing about
50mph on the A83 to Kirkie. ‘Bugger’ I think as the plug’s momentum is
halted by an overhanging tree. Charlie, the thankless hero of the day, takes
it upon himself to climb the tree and fetch it!

It was only fitting then, that shortly after I should catch a fish with it.
Charlie is now seething, and decides to relieve some tension by losing a
succession of pike.

The day is nearly done, and as I launch my plug out once more, a passer by
says “is that wan no guid enough tae keep?.” Taken aback by his rapier-like
wit, I smile politely and reel in the fetid remains of a disused fertiliser
bag. What canal adventure would be complete without it?

The walk back to the car was spent in the main rueing Charlie’s curse, and
making plans for the next trip!

cheers

Alex

So well done to Alex for catching his first Pike on the fly, I am looking forward to a bit of that action myself although to be fair my Pike would have eaten his for breakfast.